Richie Havens: Time to let Freedom’ ring

Richie Havens will forever be frozen in time, thanks to his performances at the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair in Bethel, N.Y. on an unforgettable weekend in 1969.

Brian Goslow

Richie Havens will forever be frozen in time, thanks to his performances at the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair in Bethel, N.Y. on an unforgettable weekend in 1969.

“I flew over the people at Woodstock,” Havens recalled, speaking by phone from New Jersey. “Looking out I said, ‘Holy smoke,’ if this gets into the papers tomorrow, we’ve made it; we’re not going to be underground any more.’”

Sure enough, the images of traffic backed onto the New York Thruway and hundreds of thousands dancing in various stages of dress signified the music, and culture, had gone mainstream.

And 39 years later, Havens’ performance of “Freedom,” built around the foundation of the spiritual “Motherless Child,” still connects audiences to the energy of that time.

“It really was a spontaneous thing,” Havens said of how he came to write the song in front of a few hundred thousand friends. “What it comes down to is the song itself is the atmosphere of living in the moment. We all have songs that change our minds and move us forward in our lives. I said to myself, ‘The freedom my generation and I’m looking for is happening right now.’ And that’s what came out in the song.”

He’s returned to the site of Max Yasgur’s farm for numerous anniversary concerts. “When ever I’m there, all the people you see in the movie are still there in the field,” Havens said. “I can still see them.”

While many of Woodstock’s performers have become caricatures of themselves, or less fortunately, passed away, Havens remains the same optimistic life force, performing non-stop. “I’ve been out on the road every weekend for 29 years,” he said. “Before then, it was seven days a week.”

New work, timeless themes

When Havens appears at the Nashua River Valley Folk Festival Sunday, Aug. 10, he’ll be playing tracks off his just released CD “Nobody Left to Crown” (Verve Records). It’s strikingly powerful and timelier than ever. “A lot of emotions were brought out during its recording,” Havens said. “I tried to capture what I was feeling today from A to Z. I realized, in fact, it’s a compendium of firsts. Everything in the universe is a first that reflects what I call, ‘The Great Becoming.’”

Having previously gifted the world with his interpretation of George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun,” Havens applies his unique presentation of other songwriter’s words – in this instance, Pete Townshend - to The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” It’s a song he’s wanted to sing for 20 years and one of many highlights on the disc.

The album’s cover photo was taken in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “It’s a phenomena,” Havens said of the captured location. “It’s a 6 by 7 block of street that now resembles the village I first came to in 1958.”

Havens talked about starting his career in the Greenwich Village poet rooms made famous by the Beats, where four or five musicians would be up on stage imparting their knowledge on those lucky enough to be in the room.

“The music I found there was written by the people sitting on the stage in front of me,” he recalled, his voice filled with the passion of a teenager discovering his first true musical love. “Then Brooklyn Doo-Wop educated me. Those were the songs when I started to sing.

“I tell people I attended the University of Greenwich Village,” Havens said. “Today, because of those two or three rooms in New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco, where people could caravan that circle of musicians and stay alive, you now have 200 or 300 open mic nights in each state.”

Music and songs with a fresh chord still grab Havens’ attention just as vividly as ever. “It resonates in me today as it did in the beginning,” he said. “I can still go into a record shop and stop in my tracks to something I hear in the background.”

On a recent visit to Europe, Havens found himself crying as he watched a TV movie in France, overtaken by hearing “One More Day” by Sinead O’Connor for the first time. “It was breathtaking,” he said. “A lot of us have that in us.”

The spirit in the music

The desire to find similar spirited music is why Havens requests having local performers as his opening act. He’ll be accompanied in Lancaster by guitarist Walter Parks and cellist Stephanie Winter, who opened for him numerous times as The Nudes before joining him on the endless road.

“The next wave is coming,” Havens said. “What we did is going to be fortified by the most talented people to hit the scene. I know the day is coming where they’ll be another Woodstock and the lineup won’t be including me. I just hope they invite me.”

Havens is glad to see more people getting involved with politics these days, he said, because they finally feel they have a voice, in part through the ability to communicate through the Internet. “Global youth are getting together to work for a better world,” he said with much satisfaction.

And yes, Havens has thoughts about the upcoming U.S. presidential election. “If we’re truly one and want true change, we should have two presidents: Miss Hillary Clinton and Mr. Barack Obama, and their vice presidents should be Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich,” he said. “It would change the world for the better for the next 100 years.”

If you go

Nashua River Valley Folk Festival takes place The Pierce Homestead, 153 Packard St., Lancaster, Sunday, Aug. 10, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. With featured performers Richie Havens and Lori McKenna; also scheduled are Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Mustard's Retreat, Northern Lights and Susan Werner. Tickets prices are as follows: $30 early bird (through April 1) $35 from April 1 to Aug. 1, and $40 after Aug. 1 and at the gate; children ages 6 to 12, $10; children under age 6 are free. VIP admission is $125 adults and $55 children. Tickets are now available via credit card at www.lancastercoffeehouse.com or by cash or check at the Sunrise Boutique, 62 High St., Clinton, or by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to The Lancaster Coffeehouse, PO Box 245, Lancaster, MA 01523.